Election Night HQ

The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder always seems to have a new angle on the inner workings of campaigns.  And even on a day that was dominated by the fallout from the abrupt recession of pollster/strategist Mark Penn’s role in the campaign of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Ambinder has some analysis of Senator McCain’s fundraising.  Here’s the post, titled “McCain Raises $15M In March”:

07 Apr 2008 02:22 pm

Sen. John McCain’s fundraising is picking up, relatively speaking.

In March, officials said he raised about $15M, his best month since early 2007 and well above his $2M-per-month pace in late 2007. The final number is still being tallied.

$11m came from a spurt in the campaign’s high-dollar fundraising. $4m was raised through direct mail and Internet efforts.

A campaign spokesperson did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

The campaign is on track to meet its internal budget goal of about $57M through the start of the Republican convention and an additional $20M for a legal compliance fund.

McCain’s fundraising team has also been tasked with raising about $100m into the Republican National Committee’s Victory Fund, which will be spent in the fall. The campaign itself has stopped raising money for the general election and intends to accept the $85m from the federal government.

The campaign expects a fundraising boost in may from the efforts of ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney, who has pledged to raise at least $15m for McCain by encouraging his donors to contribute.

Tomorrow night, the campaign expects to raise more than $400,000 from a high-dollar fundraiser at the Willard Hotel in downtown DC.

Obviously, McCain’s fundraising is lagging far behind those of the Democratic campaigns, especially Senator Barack Obama’s. The remarkable small-donor base that is fueling Obama’s machine, is going to be very difficult for the McCain campaign to overcome.

However, I think that Ambinder’s point is well taken, which is that by McCain standards (or even by pre-2008 cycle standards), $15 million was a great month.

Some of you may remember that back in the crowded-field days of the first quarter of 2007, McCain was heavily criticized for raising “only” $13 million in a quarter - an average of “only” $4.33 million per month. It’s hard to believe how much changes in a year in politics.   Take a look at the New York Times article, from nearly a year ago, April 19, 2007, on McCain’s fundraising:

The lead quote, which was absolutely true at the time:

A report of $13.1 million in campaign receipts in the first quarter of the election cycle is the stuff dreams are made of for most of the 2008 presidential contenders.

Yet for Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, who reported that total, the fundraising figures for the first three months were widely reported as a setback. Even McCain pronounced himself disappointed with his early fundraising results.

Thoughts are welcome.

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